Speaking of massively misguided ideas, this one also takes the cake.

A bill introduced in the state Assembly could force Chancellor Joel Klein to spend a quarter of new state school funds won in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit on lowering class size.

Called the "Class Size Reduction Act," the bill transported an ongoing spat between Mr. Klein and the teachers union president, Randi Weingarten, to Albany, where both were testifying yesterday on Governor Spitzer's budget proposal. Mr. Klein has often said that improving teaching should take precedence over reducing class size, while Ms. Weingarten is an avid supporter of smaller classes.

It's hard to think of a more completely wrong-headed statement than this:

"It's not acceptable that each individual school … can choose whether or not to employ the most effective tactic we know to achieving education excellence," Mr. Lancman said. "Parents and teachers are tired of the city giving them the runaround and doing everything but lowering class size."

In fact, it's PRECISELY at the school level that this decision should be made.  And hard experience has shown that forced class-size reduction is among the LEAST effective tactics to achieving education excellence -- see http://www.tilsonfunds.com/Personal/Classsize&teacherpay.pdf.

 

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Klein Could Be Forced To Reduce Class Sizes

BY SARAH GARLAND - Staff Reporter of the Sun
February 28, 2007
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/49511

A bill introduced in the state Assembly could force Chancellor Joel Klein to spend a quarter of new state school funds won in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit on lowering class size.